BAY CITY, MI — With the fervor of a brimstone-spewing preacher, Edward M. Czuprynski denounced Bay County Chief District Judge Timothy J. Kelly this morning in a protest against the judge’s policy of handling all of the county’s domestic violence cases.

As of 9:40 a.m., the rally in front of the Bay County Court Facility, 1230 Washington Ave., comprised about 40 to 50 people. The protesters were clad in yellow T-shirts bearing the slogans “Czuprynski for Justice” and “DV King Kelly” with a slash mark through it, hoisting placards espousing similar phrases and caricatures of Kelly.

The group marched through the courthouse parking lot, alternately chanting “Time for a change / Kelly is deranged” and “Here’s the thing / We don’t want a king.”

Czuprynski, a local attorney who is challenging Kelly for his seat in the Nov. 6 general election, spurred the crowd on, vehemently expressing his disdain for the judge’s practices.

Czuprynski also announced he is hosting a forum at the State Theatre, 913 Washington Ave., entitled “The Corrupting Influence of Political Power in Our Local Courts and How it Impacts Domestic Violence Cases” at 7 p.m. on Oct. 17. The event is to feature testimonials by domestic violence defendants, Czuprynski said.

“The people who have been abused and misused over the years are going to take front and center,” he said. Among those slated to appear is local entrepreneur Art Dore, prosecuted for domestic violence in 2008 and acquitted by a jury after less than an hour of deliberations.

Protester Stanley Fork, 85, said he’s never been charged with domestic violence, but he opposes one judge handling all cases of a kind.

“It’s unreal what’s going on,” Fork said. “There’s no justice anymore. They make their own laws, they do.”

Czuprynski said he was pleased with the turnout and expects it to grow over the next hour or so.

“This is excellent; it’s really good,” he said. “It’s about what I thought. It’s representative of the community. I expect it’s going to snowball as people learn about Judge Kelly’s abuse of power. This is just the beginning.”

Czuprynski in October 2010 filed a lawsuit against Kelly, citing a state law that reads, “all cases must be assigned by lot, unless a different system has been adopted by local court administrative order.” At the time, no such order existed, Czuprynski said.

After being served with the suit, Kelly issued an order stating that he was to preside over all of Bay County’s domestic violence cases. A Michigan Court of Appeals then dismissed the suit.